an odd collection of tales about learning to do the impossible

Posts tagged ‘#SFWA’

We discovered we both loved science fiction, and by the end of the conversation (and the bottle of wine) we were talking about attending Worldcon 2019 together in Dublin. I’m still not sure how our conversation got there.

I’ve been holding my breath for months now (metaphorically) as I worked to release my first novel with a new title. I could hardly be blamed. The first title had an exponent in it. (Yes, as in the letter x raised to the power of zero.) If you’re not mathematically inclined, trust me it was clever, but no one could fault me for wanting a title that was easier to pronounce, market and search for.

Read the full story of how it went when I republished the old x0 under the new name One of One at It worked!

I usually feed it with material from the blogs for my individual books, but this is special. I’m in the process of undergoing something of a transformation (I know, it’s an exciting word) and my books are going with me.

Last spring I gave all six of them a quick edit, with the expectation of moving on to a new series this fall. I was excited to get started on this new project, but I wanted to leave them in the best shape I could.

Then my plan got disintegrated. Burst into flames. Died a violent death. It happens to plans sometimes.

A successful self-published author got assigned to mentor me at a SFWA convention and he made a few suggestions. Rename your books and get new covers. (I can do that?) Learn about writing ads and read about successful advertising. (I can learn that?) You’ve created a product. Why not sell it?

This is my 1st cover

These ideas may not seem like a news flash to many writers, but they were to me. I’d written six books to express myself and to get these stories out of my head. Sure, I wanted to sell books but that was secondary to creating the thing I wanted to create, in the way I wanted to create it. I cared about sharing my stories with those I knew, and then finding like-minded souls who’d enjoy what I had done. I never considered anything other than self-publishing. It was all one big arts and crafts project for me, and I enjoyed the heck out of it.

But he had a point. My sales were down to nearly nothing, so why not put on a new hat? I just didn’t expect to enjoy wearing this other hat so much.

The books have been renamed. Great fun. I love the new names. The first cover is finalized and I can’t stop looking at it. The second one is in progress and I’m betting I’ll be every bit as enamored when it is done.

Not my 2nd cover

The first three books have received a hearty edit with an eye towards moving the story along, keeping words simple and phrases short, and keeping controversy out of the story. I let myself have another go at the first book, and it seems I can’t stop cutting. Zap, another 6000 words just went in the trash. It is no longer the art creation I loved, but it is something else I am proud of and something I am sure more readers will enjoy.

I’ve set an ambitious schedule for the next six months. I’ll be releasing One of One in mid-January and then another book the middle of every month until June. Each version will be as every bit as marketable as I am able to make it, and will receive strategic advertising designed to pull in readers. Will it work? I’ve no idea. I hope so.

Then I intend to start that next great project in the fall of 2019. At least, that’s the plan.

There is a famous Yiddish proverb that says we plan and God laughs. True, huh? Who knows what I’ll be doing in the fall of 2019. None-the-less, it’s good to have a plan.